Contents

Background

It is a heavy, slow moving disc-shaped aircraft that is capable of leveling whole bases in a short time. Its primary (and, to the extent of our knowledge, only) weapon is the Catalyst cannon, an energy weapon with effects not dissimilar to Nod's catalyst missile in that it causes a tremendous chain reaction. However, it is significantly more dangerous and destructive than Nod's missile, as the chain reaction is triggered between structures. The destructive effect of this weapon was evident when a single Mothership incinerated Berne in Switzerland with a single blast that leveled the dense city center. It possesses the single most powerful weapon ever to be fielded on a mobile platform in history, capable of wiping out entire bases in a single shot and leaving only a smoking crater. The effect of the chain reaction on Epic units is disputed, as different data sources conflict. Nonetheless, the Catalyst cannon is an energy-based disaster waiting to happen anytime a Foreman wants.

In addition to housing a weapon of massive destructive power, Motherships also appear to serve at least some command and control functions for the Scrin, the Mothership is a transportation method for a Scrin Foreman, seen in Threshold 19. Indeed, GDI InOps report that a Mothership was used during a Scrin retreat from Earth in the closing stages of the Third Tiberium War and defending the Relay Node.

Contrary to popular belief, a Mothership can level up like all conventional units, with increases in attack speed and near-instantaneous health regeneration being the benefits gained. However, this is often not very practical.

Strategy

While their ponderous speed has ensured that many of the small number of these units yet encountered have been destroyed, they are evidently capable of absorbing a tremendous amount of anti-aircraft fire, more than any aircraft ever manufactured by humans. Firehawks are recommended for quick and devastating attacks. If a Scrin Foreman decides to attack a commander's base, he will guard his emissary of that commander's destruction with high tier units, such as Devastator Warships, Annihilator Tripods, Stormriders, or other assorted units to counter the commander's anti-air defenses. This sheer firepower can severely damage one's anti-air defenses, especially with the fact that Devastator Warships can fire out of range of AA defenses to destroy them. This will pave the way for the Mothership to arrive. All human commanders should beware, and make this unit a priority when defending your base.

Essentially, the Mothership is a mobile superweapon - but it must be used carefully, otherwise, it will be 5000 credits wasted. It cannot target air units but is massively armored and has a self repair capacity. Massed aircraft with potent anti air weaponry is the best answer. Being a terror weapon (similar to Kirov Airship in many respects), it will likely target mass concentrations of enemy forces (such as cities or bases) before rooting out other targets. This behaviour can be exploited by a tenacious commander. In some singleplayer missions, the Mothership also plays some sort of commanding role with regards to Scrin forces; shooting down a mother ship may bring some material damage to Scrin. As such, should a commander encounter a Mothership, it would be wise to invest in its destruction.

Like other offensive units, it is possible to level up a Mothership to Veteran, Elite and Heroic status. Doing so reduces the amount of time required to recharge its weapon. However, only the initial target counts towards its experience, not the ones destroyed as part of a chain reaction. Given the difficulty of firing its weapon even once, the number of targets it needs to destroy to level up and the fact it effectively eliminates an opponent each time its weapon is fired, this is not a strategy likely to prove useful in any match. However, it can rank up by lining a ground unit and Mothership "core" to a crate. There will be a possibility that the ground unit and the Mothership will rank up. However once again this would likely won´t be useful in any match.

It can be destroyed by ramming a large aerial object through the centre (e.g. Drone Ship).

Its cannon weakens after one side of the Mothership is damaged.

Extremely hard to level up - only the cost of the unit/structure it actually hits (not the ones destroyed via the chainreaction) is factored in, and like all units, it takes 3 times its build cost (3 x 5000 credits) to increase in one rank.

Due to a game glitch, if a catalyst cannon shot hits an enemy Scrin unit, all the other units of the force will be appear white and destroyed instantly without taking any damage, this makes the enemy force an instant defeat. This may sound unfair, but if the shot also hit one of the player's unit(if the player is using a Scrin faction) all the player's unit will also become white and destroyed. It works as a double edged sword so the player must be very careful when using a Mothership.

Doesn't seem to be able to fire its cannon when heavily damaged and will simply sit over the target doing nothing even when ordered to attack.